A Faithful Friend is a Strong Defence
by Bryn Gwyrdd
Summary: Lee and Francine are undercover in the Caribbean when secrets and loyalties reveal themselves. This story is mostly K rating, but M chapters will be marked with warnings. Story is now complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own of these characters; they are the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television. I acknowledge gratefully the hard work of the creators of the series who brought to life characters we like so much we can't let them go.

Author's Notes: Continues on chronologically from my story "Safe in Your Arms" and falls just before the episode "Billy's Lost Weekend"

 **A Faithful Friend is a Strong Defence**

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" _A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure" Apocrypha 6:16_

 _._

"Billy, I am absolutely, categorically NOT going to do it!" Lee had arrived for the meeting in Billy's office in time to hear his boss tell Francine that he couldn't think of anyone in the Agency better suited than Lee to play a bar-cruising womanizer. "I am fed up to here with being the go-to guy for gigolo covers!"

Billy leaned back in his chair and began to guffaw. "Scarecrow, that is not what I said! I said we needed you to pretend to be a gigolo!"

"Jeez Lee, I can remember a time you would have been all over this mission," smirked Francine from her seat in front of Billy's desk.

Lee glared at her from his customary perch leaning on the window. "Well, Sonja Chenko pretty much took the fun out of that kind of thing for me."

Both Billy and Francine sobered immediately and Billy went on "Yeah, I'm sorry, I should have thought of that. But seriously, you only have to look like you're interested in the women – they're not the target we're after. We don't need you to actually do anything except hang around the hotel bar and look good while you keep an eye on Francine."

Lee looked suspicious that it could be this simple. "Ok-aaay. Explain it to me from the beginning."

"You and Francine are going to be sent under separate covers up to the Glenfield Hotel in the island of Veronique in the Caribbean. It's a hotel frequented by mostly extremely rich and powerful people. Very august, very swanky and very, very discreet, if you know what I mean."

"So the kind of place the rich and powerful take their mistresses?"

"Actually no, the kind of place that is so swanky that they take their wives – or more often the wives go on their own – and that's where the hotel's reputation for discretion kicks in and where your covers come in to play."

"You've lost me."

"We've had a report that someone is preying on wives of high-ranking politicians and military brass who are visiting the hotel alone. We think it's someone, maybe more than one, among the men who hang around the hotel to entertain lonely women, – and that's where you come in."

Lee still looked suspicious. "I thought you said I wasn't actually a gigolo for this."

"You're not because the women aren't our target. We want you to go prop up the bar for a week and see if you can pick up anything about the men who hang around them. Francine will follow a few days later with a cover as the wife of a Senator on the Defense Committee. If you can get recruited into whatever criminal activity is going on, that'll would be helpful, but we're counting on them targeting Francine."

"How exactly are they doing it anyway? Wining and dining them until they cough up their husband's secrets?"

"No, it's worse than that. We believe the women are being drugged with something and then pumped either for important information they might have heard from their husbands, or for information that can be used to blackmail their husbands. Our main problem is that while we suspect it's going on, there have been no actual complaints, not from the women who may not even know anything happened or from anyone who may be being blackmailed."

"So if we haven't had any complaints, why do we think anything is going on?"

Billy started to chuckle again. "Well, that's where it gets interesting. We got a tipoff from someone who may have escaped being targeted and it's an old friend of yours, Lee. Elisa Danton to be precise."

Lee's jaw dropped open. "Elisa Danton? How the hell is she mixed up in this?"

"Well the Glenfield is just the kind of place she haunts, you know, and it seems she may have had a run-in with these men that didn't work out quite as planned."

"Nothing with Elisa ever goes as planned. So what did happen?"

"She claims that she was picked up by a handsome barfly and then doesn't remember a thing until she woke up in her own room."

"None of that sounds like anything out of the ordinary for Elisa – why does she think something criminal happened?"

"Because it turns out she may have had a lucky escape entirely due to her unusual predilections."

"Meaning what?"

Billy really started to laugh now as he went on. "Well, whoever drugged her took her back to her room but obviously wasn't expecting to find that Elisa already had some company waiting for her there. Apparently when he found there was an Eastern European acrobat waiting for her, he dropped Elisa like a sack of potatoes and took off."

For the first time since he walked in the office Lee was smiling. "This still sounds more like just a normal weekend for her. Could she identify the guy who drugged her? Have we interviewed him?"

"We would have liked to, but by the time we figured out who he was, his body had shown up dumped at sea. There's more – Elisa was intrigued enough by what her room companion told her when she came to that she began asking around among her friends there and found that more than a few of them admitted to having blackout periods in the last month, and always at this hotel."

Lee leaned back against the window again, and looked at Billy through narrowed eyes. "So you're seriously just sending me on a mission where I hang out at a resort hotel, pretend to admire lonely women and make sure nobody slips Francine a Mickey Finn?"

"And rescue me if someone does" added Francine in a bitter tone. "I just love jobs where I'm only good for being bait."

"Francine, you're not bait, you're the senior agent on this and I'm counting on you catching these guys red-handed." From the exasperated tone, it was obvious Billy had been having this argument with Francine before Lee's arrival.

"By being drugged and pumped for secrets. Again, always my favourite thing."

Lee had got as far as opening his mouth to deliver one of his usual jokes when he took a close look at Francine and realized how much this was bothering her. He recognized the expression on her face because he'd seen it on Amanda and he knew it had just been on his when he'd walked into the middle of Billy's sentence five minutes ago. Everyone carried emotional scars from missions and this was Francine's. 'Amanda must be rubbing off on me' he laughed to himself before leaning forward to say out loud, "Francine? It will never get that far."

Francine lifted her eyes to stare back at him. She relaxed visibly when she read the promise in his face.

"So you'll do it?" Billy asked. After Lee's comment about Sonja Chenko earlier, he had suddenly not been sure Scarecrow would agree to go, orders or not but he was interested to see it looked like Lee's protective instincts for his friend were going to override his initial anger.

Lee shrugged. "I'm not really doing anything else while Amanda finishes up this latest set of classes and I don't trust anyone else to watch out for Francine's butt as well as I would." His sense of humour reasserted itself and he couldn't resist adding "Unless you sent Beaman."

"Har dee har har, Stetson" said Francine but both Billy and Lee could see she was relieved that he'd agreed to go.

"So when does all this kick off then?" asked Lee.

"How soon can you leave?" was Billy's answer.

"Just one thing – Elisa's not still there is she?"

"No, she's on a yacht off Borneo I think."

"Good. I can leave as soon as you need me to."

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	2. Chapter 2

" _Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship" – Willa Cather_

 _._

Lee was on his fourth day at the Glenfield and was amazed how bored he could be in such a slice of paradise. The food and drink was excellent, the rooms luxurious, the views magnificent, but the company was stultifying and he missed Amanda more than he thought possible. He was happy it wasn't a zero contact mission but until she was finished her classes at Station One, she was the one out of reach. He knew she'd be back in DC by the end of the weekend and hoped against hope he and Francine could be done here by then.

It didn't look good since his part of the mission was going nowhere. There were a number of men who hung around the hotel pool and bars on a regular basis, and an equal number of high society wives, bored and ignored by their absent husbands. It was apparent that many of the women were steady visitors and had steady boy toys that they favoured although some of them had eyed Lee with interest as he propped up the bar as Billy had ordered. It had only taken him the first two days to figure out where the problem lay with his cover as the new guy in town, that he was seen as competition by those he'd mentally christened the Dog Squad so he was in no position to gain the confidence of any of the men who might be involved. It was a good thing he wasn't actually trying to seduce anyone because he had to settle into a routine of being as charming as possible to all the women equally and then graciously withdrawing if it became apparent there was an existing relationship.

It had started to make the dogs a bit friendlier but Lee bit back a sardonic laugh at the idea that any of these people had something they thought was a relationship. He could remember when he'd seen this life as the epitome of good time until he'd been blindsided by Hurricane Amanda. No, he stopped himself, she wasn't a hurricane, she was more like one of those quiet trickles of water who ended up carving out the Grand Canyon – an unstoppable force that slowly took the walls out from around you before you knew what was happening – and thank heavens for that. He hadn't had much in his life to be thankful for when they'd met but even before they'd become romantically involved, she had made him realize how important it was to know you had someone who absolutely had your back.

'Speaking of which' he thought to himself and straightened up to sweep his gaze over the pool area. Francine had arrived that morning and he was expecting her to show up for cocktail hour anytime. Her cover was that of a much younger third wife of a senior member of Congress, one on the Arms Committee which they hoped would make her attractive as a target. It was certainly a cover that was going to work in Lee's favour tonight since she was the one 'lonely wife' in the room he could guarantee didn't have a guy already on the string and he could cement his cover by flirting with her. He finally caught a glimpse of her crossing the room and whistled to himself. She had outdone herself, dressed to the nines in a slinky blue dress that brought out the colour of her eyes, and her blonde hair in a loose updo that gave the impression that the removal of just the right hair pin would send it cascading down her shoulders. To anyone else she looked completely the part of woman on the prowl but Lee knew that the slit in the side of her dress stopped just above the knee in order to hide the scar from the bullet wound on her leg, a bullet she had taken defending Amanda and only he could read the flicker of relief in her face when he had finally made eye contact with her as she reached the bar. Seeing it, he was glad he hadn't given Billy a hard time about this mission after all. From dealing with the Triumvirate to Addi Birol, Francine had proven to be a loyal friend and he owed her a lot, least of all this simple backup job.

He watched with some amusement as ripples of conversation and stares went across the crowd at her entrance. What was it he'd said to her a few weeks ago at the costume party? "Ya still got it Desmond" and boy did she ever. Glancing around, he made mental notes on whose interest she'd attracted among their targets, and then started across the room to join her at the bar.

"Good evening – it's Mrs. Delahanty isn't it? My name is Lee Steadman, I believe we've met back in D.C." He lifted her hand to kiss it and grinned as Francine gave him her best doubtful expression.

"Have we? I'm sure I would have remembered someone like you" she cooed.

"Oh yes, we've met on Bumpy Holcomb's yacht. And we spoke at the Rosenberg Foundation party last month – I'm wounded you could so easily forget such a memorable occasion."

Francine's lips twitched despite herself at the mental image of that accidental groping, when Lee had mistaken her for someone else. "Are you sure it was me? You seem like the kind of man who'd know a lot of women at parties."

"Oh I'm sure. I can show you the bruises you left if you like."

"I think I'd enjoy that, but maybe you'd like to buy me a drink first?"

To any outsiders watching it was a perfect flirtation between two people who appeared to rely entirely on their looks to get through life.

"I can't think of anything I would rather do," Lee gave her a wink and tuned to the barman.

They strolled into the dining room shortly after, still arm in arm and in the privacy of their booth, Lee spent the meal pointing out all the players in the room, both the dogs and the birds they were hunting while Francine let him in on all the information they'd managed to pick up in Washington since he'd left. It was very little unfortunately, just a few more stories on the wind of women who may have been drugged or who might simply have drunk themselves into oblivion. Whoever was picking their targets was choosing very well, or had up until they chose Elisa.

It was 10 o'clock by the time they finished dinner and Francine was doing a remarkable job of appearing just drunk enough to be overly friendly, allowing Lee to help her to her feet and loudly and enthusiastically accepting his offer to walk her back to her room. It was a good act and one that she maintained as the door closed behind them as they entered her suite. She continued speaking in cooing tones as she dug through her handbag and handed Lee a handheld unit for sweeping the room for bugs.

"So Lee, how about you see what's on that room service menu in the way of chocolate while I mix us some drinkies?"

"Sure darling, I'm assuming you'd like something with whipped cream?" He grinned at her as she stuck her tongue out at him from across the room where she was doing the same sweep with another tracker. The sweep didn't take long, and finding nothing, Lee made his way to the minibar to grab a soft drink. "Do you want anything?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Is it too much to hope there's ginger ale in there? I need to settle my stomach or I'm going to popping antacids like Billy before this is all over."

Lee dug some ice out of the freezer and poured them each a tumbler of soda, and then flopped back in a chair and watched absentmindedly while Francine shimmied out of her dress and pulled on silk pajamas completely unselfconsciously. As she climbed on the bed and sat cross legged facing him, she finished pulling the pins out of her hair and brushing it out, then looked up startled when he started to laugh.

"It's not you, it's me" he managed to say at last. "I'm so used to Amanda, I'd forgotten what it used to be like working away missions with you." Off her questioning look he went on, "Sleeping in a box under the Beltway when we were on the run was probably the first time in three years I hadn't had to think about whether the cover allowed for getting separate rooms."

Francine looked surprised by this glimpse into his partnership with Amanda. "Seriously? After playing married covers how many times?"

Lee shrugged. "We haven't actually done that many that were overnight jobs. She's just a really private person. You know, like normal people are."

"Well thanks a lot for suggesting I'm not normal." Francine paused while he laughed and then looked down at herself and back at him. "On the other hand, I am starting to feel old."

Lee laughed harder. "Old? What makes you say that?"

"Well, we're alone in a five-star hotel room and you're still dressed, I'm in pajamas and we're sipping soft drinks and discussing Arlington housewives – seriously, when did we get so old?" She pouted in mock sorrow.

"Oh we're not old, we're just old friends. Besides, I had floor seats for your arrival in the bar tonight and trust me, not one man in the room was thinking 'old'. I thought I was going to have to beat them off with a stick."

"Well thank you for that ego boost, but tomorrow you're going to have to leave the beatings to me or we'll never get anywhere. So what were you thinking as a plan for tomorrow anyway?"

"I'll leave here in an hour or so looking suitably rumpled and that will cement my lothario image and tomorrow you can play woman on the prowl who wants a different guy every day. That'll free me up to go back to playing background bodyguard. I'll have to figure out a way to look like I'm still cruising the talent pool while I keep an eye on you. It's going to be suspicious if this much handsomeness can't score again." He grinned when Francine rolled her eyes at him.

"Good point. Now take off your shirt."

"What?" Lee almost spilled his drink, he was so startled by the request.

"Get your mind out of the gutter Stetson" Francine was laughing at him now. "I need to take off my makeup and I may as well spread some of it around on your shirt before I start. You know, for the cover."

Lee grinned and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Okay, but the dry cleaning goes on your expense report not mine." He started to laugh as it reminded him of something. "Say, have I ever told you about the time Amanda and I were handcuffed in a burning building and all she kept saying was 'Take off your belt'?"

Francine caught the shirt as he tossed it to her and began pressing her lips against the collar and top buttons. "Nope, but it bet it didn't end up as fun as it sounded." She looked critically at his shirt and then tossed it back.

"It had its moments." He began telling Francine all the funniest stories from his missions with Amanda and soon both of them were exhausted from laughing.

"She's been good for you" said Francine finally when the stories ran out. She rarely saw Lee as relaxed and happy as he was now, talking about his partner. She wondered if he realized how much his face had given away while he'd told the stories.

"She's my best friend, present company excepted and despite my best efforts sometimes. And having someone around who sees things like a normal person is pretty useful when it's so easy to fall into rabbit holes like this," he gestured around the luxuriously appointed room.

"Who'da thunk it, Scarecrow and his housewife, best team in the Agency."

Lee cocked one eye at her before deciding it wasn't one of her usual swipes at Amanda. "Yeah, who'da thunk it. You know, Amanda and me, we're –." He stopped suddenly, obviously changing his mind about whatever he'd been about to say. "Well, I guess we're a pretty good team. And now it's strange when she's not around – I bet she'd have a suspect in this pegged in two seconds."

"You think her touchy-feely intuition is that good?"

"It's saved my life often enough, so yeah. I do. I don't know how she does it – it's like she's some kind of human tuning fork. She picks up on vibrations or something and has some innate sense of people's basic self. It's great when she picks up on something being off in a person like Eva Spinelli, but not so much when you're trying to convince people you're a traitorous arms dealer or a burnout."

"But I thought she knew all along you weren't a burnout? She let you shoot at her, for heaven's sake."

"Oh no, she really didn't, not the whole time. She only figured it out for sure when Jack Harris tried to kill her and I had to come clean. Up until then she'd just been a pain in my ass, showing up at Ned's and trying to get me to sober up. I just about went out of my mind trying to think of ways to get her to lay off so she didn't blow my cover." Lee got up, suddenly restless and walked over to the window and stood staring out at the pool area below.

Francine grinned. "I bet. She's been a burr under my saddle often enough and I haven't even had as much to do with her. How'd you finally get her to leave you alone? Insult her brownies?"

"I hit her."

He'd said it so quietly Francine didn't even believe she could have heard him right until he turned back around and she saw the expression on his face. "Oh," she whispered, suddenly regretting her joke seconds ago.

Lee walked back to his chair and slumped down in it. "I know but it seemed like a good idea at the time. That's the thing with this job, you get used to using your fists instead of your brain sometimes." He looked up and saw the appalled expression on Francine's face. "Oh God, I don't mean I punched her, I slapped her but way harder than I meant to. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on her face." He stared down at the glass of ice cubes he was still clutching and absent-mindedly swirled them around.

"I can't believe Billy didn't kill you," said Francine, still almost unable to process the story.

Lee laughed bitterly and answered, "Oh he would have if he'd known. But she didn't tell him – she went back to the office, finished off all the paperwork I'd been letting pile up as part of my cover, and told him I'd done it all myself. He told me later that he called her on it, trying to pretend to be angry, and she just told him that she thought I was still a good person. And then she forgave me." He snapped his fingers. "Just like that – forgiven, forgotten and oh yeah, I still trust you enough to let you shoot directly at me the next day." He stopped and smiled tiredly at Francine. "So yeah, I trust her touchy-feely intuition thing. Her ability to see what people are really like is pretty unique. She sees right through you and your sniping you know; that's why I get ticked when you do it because people like us need people like her who see the good things."

"Like that math geek Gregory wanted to trade me for," said Francine, trying to lighten the mood.

Lee managed to smile at the memory. "Boy, every floor in the Agency must have been able to hear that fight in Billy's office. She's never been as pissed at me as she was over my dismissing her evaluation of Will Towne."

"I should be impressed but her enthusiasm for him almost got me killed."

"Well, we didn't know it was you that Gregory had until after she figured out the stunt he was pulling. And it was her insights that helped us find Tuttle so we had someone to trade you for."

"It was?"

"It was. She was really torn up about it – you'd only just gone on vacation after saving her at the Cumberland that night."

Francine unconsciously rubbed the spot on her upper leg where the bullet had hit her and then started to laugh. "Yeah, the one time she actually went to the car when one of us told her to and it was the worst idea ever. No wonder she complains when you tell her to stay in the car all the time."

"Maybe someday something will happen to make me stop thinking that's a good idea but in the meantime, I keep thinking it'll keep her out of trouble. Like that'll ever happen". They both started to laugh when Francine said the last sentence at the exact same time.

They were both silent for a moment before Francine said, "You know, I don't really mean it when I snipe at her anymore. I just don't know what to do with someone so, so…" She paused trying to find the right word.

"Nice?" supplied Lee, with a smile. "Don't worry, it took me a while too. Anyway, like I said, she sees right through it anyway and actually, I think she kind of enjoys it. It lets her know who her friends are."

"She thinks we're friends?"

Lee cocked his head and smiled at her. "You think you're not?"

Francine thought about it for a moment. "Damn. When did that happen?" She found herself yawning and glanced at her watch. "God, it's past midnight already. Two hours should be enough to cement your reputation as a lover right? I'll call Billy and leave an update on his machine. So I'll see you and ignore you at breakfast?"

"You're not going to walk me to the door darling?" Lee was already halfway to the door and looked back grinning.

"Why Mr Steadman, you don't seem like the kind of man who would leave a girl able to walk after two hours," she replied as she picked up the phone and started dialling Billy's office number.

Lee stopped in the doorway and blew her a kiss. "Good night Mrs. Delahanty. It's been a real pleasure getting to know you. Don't forget to bolt the door behind me." She could hear him walking off whistling as the phone began to ring in Billy's office.

"Oh! Hi Billy – I thought I'd get your machine at this time of night. Seriously? Again? What an idiot. Well I won't keep you long since we don't have much to report yet, but since I've got you I just thought of something and wanted to run it by you."

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	3. Chapter 3

" _Courage is grace under pressure" - Ernest Hemingway_

 _._

Billy was back in his office by 7:00 a.m. after only six hours of sleep. Francine had caught him on his way out the night before from getting debriefed from a drop that had ended with Fred Fielder in the medical unit. "Again" he thought to himself, although at least this time it actually wasn't Fred's fault. He'd just been in the wrong place when a vagrant had decided the drop going down outside his cardboard box was some kind of police raid and had clocked Fred with an iron bar before taking off. Nevertheless, once again Billy found himself doing insurance paperwork for Fred less than a few weeks after the last time. His lips twitched recalling Amanda's description of the stun gun accident and he rather suspected Leatherneck would manage to find the video of it in time for the Christmas party this year. As he completed the familiar forms, he was thinking about what Francine had suggested the night before. It was a good idea, a very good idea, but he couldn't figure out how to swing it without ending up with at least one agent mad at him and possibly two.

"Hello sir"

Billy looked up, startled to find one of the objects of his thoughts standing in his doorway. "Amanda? What are you doing here? I thought you were at Station One until at least the end of the weekend? Not that it's not always a pleasure to see you, of course. Come on in and sit down. I'm just finishing the medical paperwork on Fred's latest run-in."

Amanda crossed the room and sat gracefully in one of the chairs facing him. "Still? I would have thought all that would have been filed weeks ago."

"Oh no, this is new stuff. He's moved on from annoying his fellow agents; now the homeless population of Washington are trying to kill him too."

"Poor Fred". To her credit, she sounded like she meant it, even though she couldn't hide a slight smile.

"But what's brought you back so early? Beaman's daily updates all suggested it was going very well this time."

Amanda chuckled at his oblique reference to her original attempt at the Agency course. "I did much better this time, sir. Efraim even complimented me on how much I'd improved my evasive manoeuvres since the whole Stemwinder thing. And then outside of a few things like final gun range tests to go through with Leatherneck, I was all set to move onto the next round of courses when we hit a snag."

"A snag?" Knowing Amanda, Billy was worried that what she called a snag would be a major headache for him.

She took a deep breath and went on,"Yes, well, the next part of this round was pressure testing." She stopped and stared at her hands in her lap, absentmindedly rubbing the fingers on her left hand as if she was playing with a ring that wasn't there.

"Oh" It was suddenly all clear to Billy. "Pressure testing as in resistance to drugs and –." He stopped as suddenly as Amanda had seconds previously.

"Psychological pressure, yes sir." He noticed she couldn't say the word "torture" although that was certainly what Birol had put her through.

"That's not going to be a problem Amanda. You've proved yourself invaluable to the Agency so we'll figure out something to get you qualified."

"Thank you sir. I was hoping you'd say that. You see, Dr. McJohn wouldn't give permission for me to undergo any drug tests this soon but he and Dr. Pfaff both said they'd agree to sign off on me as exempted from having to complete it, if you'd agree." She said all this at high speed, still staring at her hands.

"I certainly agree you've already proven yourself under much worse pressure than the tests we do here, so I'll be happy to."

She finally lifted her eyes to smile at him, relief written all over her face. "Thank you sir, I'd appreciate that."

"Actually Amanda, the timing of this couldn't be more perfect. I was trying to think of a way of getting you out of Station One without annoying Beaman. Does your family still think you're away?"

"Yes sir. Philip is on a school trip until Sunday and Jamie is spending the week getting to know his dad better, and my mother is away in New York on a seniors Christmas shopping bus tour so nobody's expecting to see me for a few more days. I assume Lee is away as well? I tried calling him last night but he wasn't home. Is there something you need help with in the office?"

Billy hid a smile at the way she'd slid the question about Lee into the rest of the ramble. He could hardly wait to see her reaction to what was coming next. "Not office work, no; in fact, just the opposite. We're going to revive an old friend of yours and I need you to go on vacation, all expenses paid and I need you to leave this morning."

Whatever she'd been expecting to hear, it wasn't that. "Ok, I think. What am I expected to do?"

Billy leaned forward and began explaining Francine's idea and grinned to himself as Amanda's face lit up.

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	4. Chapter 4

" _Surprised by joy – impatient as the wind" – William Wordsworth_

 _._

Lee had spent a productive day lounging by the pool. With the judicious use of twenty-dollar tips, the barman had become his new best friend in the last few days, and Lee had been quick to feed him salacious details on his evening with the delectable Mrs. Delahanty to cement his cover. Speaking just loudly enough to be overheard, he had attracted the attention of some of the Dog Squad as he let out little details on what he'd supposedly done to gain her interest. Francine meanwhile had finally appeared by the pool by noon, large sunglasses and small yawns all suggestive of a woman who had had an exhausting evening the night before. After gracefully acknowledging his wave of greeting across the pool, she had immediately zeroed in on one the dogs Lee had suggested as a good target and begun playing up to him. Lee made all the right noises to the other men about the fickleness of women to his new 'friends' in the squad and then spent the rest of the afternoon flirting outrageously with every other woman in sight, all the while watching Francine like a hawk. When she disappeared upstairs to change for dinner, so did he, leaving a score of women at the pool appreciatively watching him walk away.

He knew from their talk the night before that Francine would be back for cocktails sometime before the 8 pm seating in the dining room so he had time for a long shower. It was a relief to rid himself of the various perfumes of the women who'd been hanging on him all day and for the first time that day he allowed his thoughts to turn to Amanda. He grew hard thinking about the night they'd managed to have together before she left for Station One and the memory of her eyes, dark with passion, head tipped back on his pillow calling his name had him stroking himself furiously within seconds. Falling back against the shower wall with a groan, he had to laugh at himself. "A full day of half-naked women around a pool does nothing and ten seconds of thinking about Amanda has me jerking off like a horny teenager in need of a cold shower. The dog squad would never believe it." As he dressed for the evening, he wondered how Station One was going, knowing she was much better prepared this time, but unable to stop the smile at remembering her first effort. A complete disaster from start to finish and yet she'd still managed to identify and capture a Soviet agent. She should be done this round by Sunday he reminded himself as he dressed, and then you can call - or better yet, see her if you're not still stuck here. He grinned at his reflection as he tied the bowtie for his tux – who in their right minds would look forward to leaving the sun of the Caribbean for the inevitably grey skies of DC in December? He would, he knew, since the sunshine in his life was provided entirely by his fiancée. "Get a grip Stetson – you're sounding more like a hopeless romantic all the time," he said to the mirror before heading back downstairs to his station at the end of the bar.

"Hey Lee" said Antonio the barman. "You might be in luck – apparently there's been a shipment of fresh meat today."

Lee worked hard to maintain his smile in the face of the disgust he felt for the barman's assessment of the women at the hotel. "Really? What's the grapevine say?"

"Some friend of Mrs. Delahanty's apparently. Loaded, they say, and engaged to somebody important in the White House. The concierge says he got the impression from her conversation with Mrs. Delahanty in the lobby when she arrived that's she's here to blow off a little steam before the wedding. You might get lucky – Tommy says she's a looker."

Lee was intrigued; obviously Billy had sent more backup but who was available? – the pool of female agents wasn't that large so he must know her. A sudden horrible thought struck him: 'Oh God, please don't let it be Elisa'. Out loud he managed to say, "Really? Got a name? Maybe I know her if she's been going to the same parties as Fast Frannie."

"Hang on, I'll check the tab register."

He tried to look nonchalant as Antonio leaned down and flipped to the most recent page of guest bar tabs, even sipping his drink in an effort to look only moderately interested. He almost choked on it when Antonio looked back up saying. "Here it is – Victoria Greenwich. Ever heard of her?"

"Victoria Greenwich? Yeah I've heard of her." He couldn't believe he had managed to still sound calm.

"Well, she's just walked in, so you better move fast."

Hoping against hope that it wasn't just Billy reusing old covers for new agents, Lee slowly turned around and looked around the crowd. He finally spotted Francine talking with the manager of the hotel, a rather obsequious man named Halliwell. At first glance he thought she was alone, but then she shifted her position slightly to introduce someone else and Lee felt the wave of pure delight crash through him. It was all he could do to stop himself from charging over there. Instead he forced himself to turn back to the barman and say "Oh yeah, I know her, or at least her reputation. This'll be easy."

"Well, good luck man, the hyenas are already circling."

'Yeah but they don't know what I know' thought Lee to himself before pushing off the bar and beginning to circle the pool slowly, keeping an eye on the two women from a distance. He perched in the shadows, watching them while the dog squad made various runs at them. They were a striking pair, blonde and dark, and they fell into an easy rhythm of conversation and flirting with the men who approached them, all smiles and promises, and yet leaving no man in particular with the feeling that he was onto a sure thing. He grinned to himself as he watched Amanda's hand rise unconsciously and run a finger down the back of her neck. She knew he was there somewhere watching and he watched the flush cross her body as if she was aware what he was thinking. He turned as someone walked up to stand beside him – it was one of the dogs, a man named Gary who Lee had placed at the bottom of the "maybe" list of targets. He seemed more coarse then the usual squad members and didn't seem to be favoured with the women as much. He was on the list only because of his longevity as a hotel regular, but Lee couldn't see him being successful at charming enough women into even talking to him long enough to be drugged.

Gary was now leering at Francine and Amanda. "The new one's cute too – you know if we tag-teamed we could probably get a four-way later." It was all Lee could do to keep his clenched first from flying out and clocking him where he stood. The agent part of his brain dropped Gary off the list; anyone who wasn't solely interested in getting a woman alone was not their target. The other 95% of him seethed quietly before he could finally trust himself to say "No thanks, I prefer to work alone" as he stalked off towards Amanda.

Francine looked up as he walked out of the shadows and smiled knowingly at him, while making a show of waving him over to join them. "Lee, darling, do come and meet one of my oldest friends. Vicky, this is one of my newest friends, Lee something-or-other. We had the most marvellous time last night, you should definitely get to know him as well."

Well, Frannie, you did say you'd introduce me to all the most fun people when you invited me down here and I'm sure Mr. Something-or-other won't disappoint." Amanda's expression was pure mischief as she looked up at him.

The dimples in Lee's cheeks deepened as he bent to take Amanda's hand and raise it to his lips. She was becoming more flushed as Lee held her hand just a little too long and allowed the tip of his tongue to lightly jab out and lick her before releasing her. He looked up into Amanda's dancing eyes and grinned. "Call me Lee, and Frannie could tell you I never disappoint."

"Well then I'm sorry I'm late for the party."

"Better late than never." He turned to take Francine's hand and give it the same kiss, minus the tongue action. "Frannie, darling, you never said a thing last night about having such a lovely friend coming to join you."

"Well, it was just an idea I had once you left me all tucked up in bed last night and I called to see if she wanted to join us. And how nice that William said you could come. Isn't it nice, Lee darling?"

By now Amanda was having difficulty not bursting into giggles. She knew Francine was enjoying needling her with that line about Lee tucking her up in bed, but she was too happy to be here to care.

"Very nice indeed," Lee answered Francine, giving her a wink. "Now can I persuade you two lovely ladies to join me for dinner? I hear the Beef Wellington is excellent."

"Oh I don't think I'm that hungry after travelling all day. I'll probably just have a salad," said Amanda in her most demure voice. Lee gave her a confused glance as she looked up at him, eyes twinkling. He suddenly remembered her telling him months before that a girl eating lightly on a date was a sure sign she was hoping to get lucky at the end of the evening. Her smile widened as she saw the desire flicker in his eyes as he made the connection.

Francine knew that, as usual, there was a joke she wasn't getting but chose to let it slide. "Well, you two go and have fun. I'm planning on having my own little dinner date."

"Not with Gary." Lee's attention had returned to her fully. It wasn't a question and Francine understood immediately that the hapless Gary had been eliminated somehow from his list. "No, not Gary. I thought maybe Simon? That English accent of his is just delicious." She'd named one of his top suspects and Lee nodded in acknowledgement. He held out a hand to Amanda

"Shall we Mrs – uh?"

"Miss. I'm not married yet. But you can call me Vicky." She took his hand and rose gracefully to her feet.

"Not married yet, hmm? I can't believe someone hasn't done something about that, although I see now you have a lovely ring there." It was lovely – she was wearing the ring he'd given her just weeks before.

"Oh I'm working on it but you wouldn't believe how hard it can be to get a man to nail down a date." She paused look down at Francine "We'll see you in the dining room then." It was reassurance that they'd be watching her and Francine nodded. "And maybe a nightcap?"

"I'll let you know" Francine glanced up at Lee who nodded imperceptibly. She watched as the two of them made their way towards the dining room before turning and giving her most beguiling smile to the handsome Englishman watching her from across the pool.

.

SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK

Lee knew exactly which table to request that gave him the best view of the room so he could watch Francine and her date for the evening. It was also just happened to be a perfect table for letting them sit side by side on a curved bench against the wall.

"God, I love my job," he murmured into Amanda's ear, delighted by the throaty laugh his comment caused. "How on earth did you get here?"

"Agency jet."

"A-man-da!" he growled. "You know what I meant. You were supposed to be stuck at Station One this week."

"Well, I was and then I wasn't." She held up a hand at his expression. "It all went fine. So fine that I got out early and I only have a few things left to complete but Billy has some paperwork to do for me first." She suddenly looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. "Did you hear Fred's off work under medical leave again?"

Lee looked at her suspiciously. He knew she was being evasive about something but sitting in the middle of a surveillance job was probably not the best place to make her tell him what about. He decided to let it pass for the time being and respond to the latter part of what she'd said. "Again? What's he done this time?"

As Amanda filled him in on the hapless Fred, Lee had the incredibly simple task of appearing to be completely involved in seducing her. Somehow they managed to make it through the meal without incident although Lee tested her limits by running his hand up her leg and under her skirt in a way he knew drove her crazy. If he hadn't been determined to maintain an absolute protective cover on Francine, he probably would have done more, but they both knew they could only have so much fun without getting distracted.

Francine was doing her usual excellent job of appearing to get drunker and merrier as the meal progressed, getting increasingly louder and slightly obnoxious but eventually they saw her signalling that she was ready to call it a night. They stood up as she walked towards their table, Simon trailing behind looking confused.

"Well hello you two" she drawled. "Been having fun?" She didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "Vicky darling, why don't you come up for that nightcap we talked about earlier? I've hardly had a chance to see you since you got here and we're supposed to be discussing your wedding plans. Simon, you don't mind if I leave you to your own devices, do you? I promise to make it up to you tomorrow." Again, she didn't wait for an answer before linking her arm through Amanda's and heading out of the dining room.

Lee looked at Simon who was staring after them with an annoyed expression. "I know how you feel buddy – she's a bit of a tease isn't she? I thought I was in for sure with her friend, but I think we may have been dumped for a girly gabfest. Unless you want to follow them to their rooms and see if they're up for a little team sport?" He wondered if Simon would eliminate himself as easily as Gary had done hours earlier or if he was landing himself with a new problem.

"No thanks, mate. Best of luck to you but I think I'll take my chances on getting her alone tomorrow." Simon was still watching the two women as they left the room. "I'll settle for the free meal tonight and get the big score later."

"Big score?" asked Lee, with well-feigned confusion. "From last night, I'd say she's good but she's not that good."

"Not that kind of score, mate." Simon smirked at him and then paused looking at him thoughtfully. "Tell you what, see how you do with those two tonight and then come find me tomorrow. I have someone who might want to meet you."

"Gotcha" thought Lee to himself before saying out loud "Well, okay. I'm happy enough to have them all to myself. See ya round."

A few minutes later, he was tapping on Francine's door. He laughed as the door opened and a well-manicured hand reached out to grab his tux lapel and drag him into the room. "Jeez, Francine, wasn't last night enough for you?"

Amanda grinned at him from across the room where she was finishing the bug sweep. "Next I expect I'll have to prove I really do know what a ménage a trois is."

"Lalalalalala!" said Francine holding her hands over her ears. "You two always know how to creep me out! Your act at dinner was nauseating. But seriously, Lee, it's definitely Simon!"

"I know"

She looked startled at the immediate response. "How do you know? Did you see him when he tried to spike my drink?"

"One, because he turned down my offer to bring him up here with me and two, he offered to introduce me to someone tomorrow. I think I just got recruited. How the hell did I miss him slipping something in your drink?"

"Because I knocked over the glass while he was in the middle of doing it. You invited him up here? What would you have done if he'd said yes?" Francine glared at him.

"Hit him with the Cobra Death Grip" answered Lee smiling as Amanda cracked up.

"The Cobra what?"

"Old British spy trick – could have sworn I mentioned it last night. Never mind - I would have sent him up first and let you knock him out, of course."

"Oh that reminds me" Amanda said suddenly. "Francine, Dr. McJohn sent some stuff with me that should counteract the effects of anything these guys are putting in the drinks. He says it's not really finished testing yet, but he's sure it's safe."

Francine wrinkled her nose and looked disgusted. "No thanks, I'm already freaked out enough by this whole thing without drugging myself." Amanda's eyes met Lee's questioningly. The slight shake of his head told her they'd discuss it later.

"If you say so. He says it'll work as both prevention and cure if you change your mind."

"I won't. You two just keep watching my back and I'll be fine. And now, in deference to Amanda's being here, I'll change in the bathroom this time." She grabbed her pajamas and went into the ensuite.

"This time?" Amanda looked at him quizzically.

"Last night, she was so busy discussing the case she did a whole striptease in front of me. Perks of being old friends."

"Bet you enjoyed that."

"Actually, I didn't notice what she'd done until it was all over. I'll be sure to pay more attention next time."

"Next time, Stetson?"

"I'm hoping for an encore tonight with the real star of the show instead of having to settle for the understudy." He had moved across the room and was now bent down nuzzling her neck.

"Oh smooth, very smooth, lover boy. But you better move because Francine is going to come back out of that bathroom in about ten seconds." Indeed, no sooner had Lee stepped away than Francine walked back into the room and stared at them suspiciously.

"What are you two up to?"

"Amanda was just asking me about your tattoos," replied Lee easily.

"I don't have any...oh for God's sake! You are such a -" muttered Francine.

"Wormbrain?" supplied Lee.

"Yes, that's perfect – you are such a wormbrain."

"Don't call your brother wormbrain" muttered Amanda out of sheer habit. "Wow, this is just like being at home except the weather's better."

"Well, let's get tomorrow planned because I want to go to bed." Francine missed Lee and Amanda's eyes meeting over her head and the shared smiles that said "me too".

.


	5. Chapter 5

**An M-rated chapter. This is your warning!**

 **.**

" _I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams." - Jonas Salk_

 _._

An hour later, Lee stuck his head out the door to check the hallway, then leaned back in and gestured for Amanda to step out. "I'll walk you back to your room, Vicky darling." He glanced down as she passed him and grinned at the way she was adjusting her clothes to make it look like she'd just scrambled into them again.

Francine came to lean in the doorway and wave them off. "Well, I haven't had that much since my sorority days. I'll see you at breakfast Vicky?"

"Better make it lunch Frannie, some of us might stay up for a while." Amanda couldn't resist bugging her and didn't bother to hide her smile when Francine couldn't resist pretending to shudder in response. "Good night." She leaned over to give her hug and whispered "I'll see you at breakfast." Francine gave her a quick smile and walked back into the room.

They waited until she shut the door and heard the bolt slide shut before moving towards the elevator, arms draped loosely around each other. "Alright, what's up with her? She's really on edge" Amanda asked quietly once they were in the elevator.

"I'll tell you in a minute," Lee answered, pulling her into a deep kiss. By the time the doors opened again, they were both breathless.

"Which room?" he asked

"406 – down there" She began to laugh as he started half-dragging her down the hallway until he suddenly came to an abrupt halt and she crashed into his back.

"Who the hell is that?" Lee started to move quickly down the hallway again as Amanda peered around him to see a young man leaving her room.

"Lee! Lee, stop! That's Adam! He came with me." she hissed.

The agent had looked up as Lee came down the hallway at him, and a look of sheer panic had crossed his face at the expression on Lee's.

"Good evening sir" he stammered as Lee stopped dead at Amanda's words. "Hi, uh, Miss Greenwich. I was just dropping off your other bag. And – uh – fumigating." He opened his jacket to reveal the same handheld unit Francine and Lee had in their rooms.

"Thank you Adam. I'll certainly sleep easier knowing there's no creepy-crawlies in there." She took Lee by the arm and started him moving again. "You have a good night now but keep your ears open alright? Your next-door neighbour is a notorious snorer."

The young agent nodded and almost ran for the elevator, he was so eager to get away from the infamous Scarecrow.

"My God" Lee muttered as they went into her room. "The newbies get younger every day."

"No, we just get older. Gimme a second to call Francine. I want to remind her he's in the room next to hers for backup." She picked up the phone and dialled Francine's room number and spoke quietly for a few minutes before finally turning back to Lee and stepping into his embrace. "Alone at last."

"Damn, I've missed you" They stood wrapped in each other's arms for several moments. He could feel Amanda relaxing under his touch, tension draining from her as she leaned into his chest, breathing in his scent. "I get the impression the feeling's mutual?"

"Oh you don't even know" groaned Amanda. "It's been quite a week."

"Want to tell Dr. Stetson all about it?" he asked, even as he began undoing the zip on her dress and was rewarded with a throaty chuckle.

"Maybe later. First tell me what's up with Francine."

Lee groaned and looked down to see if she was serious, even though he already knew she was. "She's afraid of being drugged again. Turns out Mrs. Welch did quite a number on her head."

"She told you that?" Amanda asked in an amazed tone.

"Not out loud."

"Ah." She thought for a moment and looked back up at him. "I should have known something was up when she asked Billy to send me down here."

Lee stared down at her, startled. "She what?"

"You didn't know? She called him last night to see if he could spring me from Station One, and it turned out I was already on my way home anyway. I barely had time to say hello to him and I was on a plane here. Any idea why?"

Lee thought back to his conversation with Francine the night before. "Maybe a few but honestly? I'm just glad she did."

"Me too" Amanda, now busily working away on Lee's shirt buttons, smiling at his growl when she gently ran her tongue across his nipple. She felt him tugging her dress down and stepped back to let it slip off and land in a puddle at her feet before turning her attention to doing the same to his shirt.

"I must say I like this version of Victoria Greenwich a lot better" chuckled Lee as he ran his hands down her back and began to flick open the snaps on her garter belt. He paused when Amanda tensed against him.

"Don't" she whispered against his chest.

"Don't?"

"No covers. Just you and me."

"Sounds good to me. I prefer my Amanda any day." He felt her start to relax again and leaned down to scoop her off her feet. Placing her gently on the bed, he quickly stripped off his clothes, leaving them in a heap on the chair while Amanda watched appreciatively through half-closed lids. He knelt on the bed and gestured her to move. "Roll over."

She studied him for a moment and then obeyed. "I'm almost afraid to ask" she murmured before moaning in delight as he began massaging her shoulders.

"If I'd known you were coming, I'd have packed massage oil, but this should still help."

"I'm sure I'll be coming later" she grinned wickedly at him over her shoulder from the pillow before closing them in pleasure as his hands worked their magic.

He frowned as his fingers traced over a large bruise on her ribs before kissing it lightly. "How'd you get this one?"

"Zigged when I should have zagged on the obstacle course." she answered sleepily. "No bikinis for me at the pool tomorrow."

Lee was now sliding her stockings down her legs, one at a time, his lips following his fingertips, caressing every inch of her skin. Amanda couldn't help shivering as he began dropping light kisses on the small of her back while his hands slowly slipped her garter and panties down and off to join the stockings.

"Cold?" She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Hardly" she answered with a soft groan. His hands had moved back up her body and he was slowly caressing her, down her sides, over her buttocks and down, then back up the insides of her thighs, each time coming just a little closer to where she ached for his touch but not quite reaching it. "Leeeee" she couldn't help breathing out his name in frustration as her hips shifted, straining to follow his fingers. She could hear him chuckle softly and then felt his mattress shift under his weight as he lay down beside her and rolled her into his arms.

"More relaxed now?" he asked, hazel eyes twinkling at her across the pillow.

"Yes and no" she smiled at him.

"I'll have to keep trying then." He rose on one elbow so that she tipped gently onto her back and began trailing kisses down her neck and breastbone before taking one aching nipple between his lips and flicking it with his tongue while his hand caressed the other in a matching rhythm. Her back arched involuntarily as her whole body reached out to his. His hand left her breast and gently stroked her body until it was resting on her stomach between her hips. Amanda could feel her womb contract under its warmth and lifted her hand to rest it on top of his. Lee could hear her heart beating furiously through the ear he had pressed to her chest. When he went to move his hand lower, she suddenly tightened her grip and lifted it to carry it upwards to her face instead, bringing it in close to plant a kiss on his palm. Lifting his head to look in her eyes, he could see the longing raging in their brown depths.

"No more, you got me frazzled enough at dinner. Just come to me now" she murmured, reaching down to pull him back up her body until he lay nestled between her thighs, his arousal straining against the warmth he could feel waiting for him.

"Your wish is my command, sweetheart." He lifted his upper body off her so he could look into her eyes as he slowly eased himself inside her. As he began to move back and forth slowly, her lips curved into a smile, then as her body rocked to match his rhythm, she reached up to pull him back down so she could wrap one arm around his back while the other pulled his head close to hers.

"I love you Lee Stetson" she whispered against his face. In the fraction of a second between heartbeats, as his lips rested against her right cheek, Lee relived his confession to Francine the night before, of that awful afternoon at Ned's. He jerked back as a wave of emotion overtook him as it hit that somehow he and Amanda had travelled together from that moment to this. He realized he'd stopped moving and opened his eyes to stare down into Amanda's, dark pools of desire gazing back at him with a lovelight he knew was for him alone.

"I love you too, Amanda" he answered, voice cracking with emotion.

"So show me," she smiled lazily at him and rocked her hips against his, pulling him in to grip him tightly.

Lee began to thrust into her again, gently at first then with increasing speed as she moaned and gasped encouragement and endearments in equal measure, matching every movement. As he felt himself approaching the cliff's edge, he rolled onto his back, carrying her with him, still embedded in her core and braced his feet against the bed so he could push up into her. Instinct took over and she put her hands on his chest, lifting herself slightly so that she could press her aching flesh more firmly against his pelvic bone. He watched with satisfaction as the telltale signs of her orgasm began, the flush rising up her body, the way her eyes began to flutter under her closed lids, the complete silence as her entire being reached out for the release and then the low keening moan of delight as her warmth began to spasm around him and her body shook uncontrollably.

"Leeeeee". This time she breathed out his name as a benediction and he could no longer hold himself back from tipping over into bliss with her, calling her name in response.

.

They were sleeping tangled in each other other's arms a few hours later when Amanda suddenly came awake, struggling to get upright, calling for him. Lee was awake in an instant, tightening his arms around her, repeating her name over and over as he recognized the recurrence of her Birol nightmare. He'd soothed her through many nights of them at his apartment when they'd realized they needed each other to recover and knew she just needed to know he was really there.

Finally she was awake, curled into his body, still shaking, while he stroked her hair and murmured nonsense into her ear. When he finally felt her heartbeat slow under his hand, he ventured to ask, "Is this why you went home early from Station One?"

"No," she shook her head. "This is my first one in a few weeks. Actually, it was all going really well. I was on my way to finishing early anyway when –." She paused and took a deep breath. "When it got to the pressure tests. I'm in complete sympathy with Francine, I was dreading it – it's so unnerving knowing someone is going to have complete control over you and hearing you say she was scared about this probably set my stress off again. Anyway, in the end, McJohn and Pfaff both said no to me doing the tests."

Lee let out a snort of annoyance. "Damn straight they said no – what was Beaman thinking even scheduling it?"

"He didn't schedule it – it's just part of the standard stuff at this level and he had 11 other people he was paying more attention to."

Lee suddenly took in what she was saying. "So wait, does this mean you didn't pass? That you don't get to pass?"

"No, it just means the rest of the tests get delayed for a few weeks. Billy is filling in exemption paperwork and until that gets approved, I can't finish. Maybe it's just as well – if I'm having nightmares again, maybe it's a sign I need to slow down training for a while."

"And coming here to work is your idea of slowing down?" he smiled at her. "The nightmares suggest otherwise, Morticia."

"Are you kidding? This is heaven – sun, sand, you. I think, I've just been going non-stop for so long that my subconscious took the first sign of relaxation to kick me in the butt. First I was stressed about having to do the tests and then I was stressed about not getting to do the tests and then I got home and found you gone. I couldn't believe it. I was a basket case by the time I got to Billy's office."

"There's a note in the Q Bureau telling you where I was. I didn't want to leave anything at the house with your mother around."

"I never even made it upstairs to see it. Two hours after talking to Billy, I was already on the plane down here. He might be on to us – I was so wrought up with the training problems and lack of sleep that I might have been just a little too enthusiastic about this job."

"It wouldn't surprise me – he's a smart guy. And I think Francine has her suspicions too - that may be why she called Billy."

"So we're not very good at being covert lovers, are we?"

"I don't think they know how involved we are yet – just that there's something there. They might figure it out when we tell them we're engaged though."

Amanda laughed and held up her hand to stare at the ring on it. "The best part of this job is getting to wear this openly."

"The best part? Really? I can think of better parts." Lee began running his fingers up and down her body.

"No you're right – it's second after getting to spend the day listening to Francine's suggestions for my wedding to the White House senior staffer and taking notes on any really good ideas she comes up with. I hope you've allowed a really big wedding budget." Her giggles turned to squeals as the tickling intensified until she finally managed to wriggle enough to get her hands between their bodies and stroke him until she had his full attention. "Checkmate, mon amour."

He gave a bark of laughter before saying "Oh no, I have a few moves left, Morticia." He begin nibbling his way down her body, enjoying the little shivers she couldn't help. When he stopped to run his tongue over the ticklish spots just above the thatch of curly hair, she gave a low moan of pleasure and ran her fingers through his hair. "Okay, you win" she whispered, "it's only the second best thing about this job."

He crossed his hands across her body and rested his chin on them to smile up at her. "Have you really spent all day discussing wedding plans with Francine?"

"Of course not. I only got here this afternoon." She let out another yelp when he tickled her in response to the smartass response. "But you wouldn't believe how much stuff she came up with as part of our cover conversation before you joined us. I hope she finds a nice wealthy prince to give her that dream wedding but ours is going to be nothing like it." She stopped suddenly and lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Right?"

"Are you kidding? I've already booked the Army-Navy Club for the reception. It'll drive my uncle crazy." As she began to crow with laughter, he went on "No seriously, can you imagine it? Half a dozen people on my side of the church and half of Arlington on yours? Nope, a jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou – that's all I need. But you know what my favourite line in the wedding vows is? 'With my body I thee worship'. We really need to make sure that's in there." His lips and hands had already started to move over her again.

"Care to demonstrate, Big Fella?"

"Always, my Amanda."


	6. Chapter 6

" _Hard Times will always reveal True Friends."_

 _._

Amanda found Francine having breakfast by the pool. "Sleep well?" she enquired pleasantly.

"Not bad. I do love a bed in a five-star hotel. You?"

"Same here. Much better than the cots at Station One."

"Where's Lee got himself hidden? I know he doesn't eat breakfast but I thought he'd be visible."

"Up on the room balcony. He's keeping an eye out until I got out here. He'll be down soon to look for Simon, so I'll be your tail for the day. Is it too much to hope that all you have planned is lounging by the pool?"

Francine glanced up at the row of balconies until she spotted Lee looking for all the world like he was just sitting in the sunshine reading the paper. "Isn't that the balcony for your room? And is he still in last night's clothes?" She arched a brow at Amanda, sure she'd caught them out. Her late-night conversation with Lee had left her more curious than ever about what was going on between this unlikely pair.

"No line of sight from his room," answered Amanda without missing a beat. "And he's still in last night's clothes to keep up the cover. Don't tell the White House I left a strange man in my room – they'd be severely unimpressed with my lack of security precautions. Oooh, is that a danish?" She snagged a pastry from the basket on the table and busied herself pouring coffee. She allowed herself a smile at the small sound of annoyance from Francine at her ready answer.

Francine watched Lee stand and stretch before disappearing back into the room. He didn't reappear for another thirty minutes, showered, shaved and dressed much more appropriately for a morning at the pool. Stopping at the breakfast station, he wandered towards their table carrying a large mug of coffee. "Good morning lovely ladies, I see you're not too tired out by last night's activities?"

Amanda raised her hand to act as a sunshade as she studied him. "Why no, Mr. Something-or-other, but you look like you've been ridden hard and put away wet. Enjoyable night?"

"No rest for the wicked, Vicky darling, and I thought we decided you could call me Lee – you certainly had it down pat last night." He grinned as Amanda tried to control her laughter at the look on Francine's face. "Looking forward to a day by the pool, Mrs. Delahanty? Do let me know if you need any help with your sun lotion – I'm quite adept at applying it."

"You're hilarious," Francine hissed at him through a fake smile. "Now wander off and do your job, wormbrain."

"I'm going to regret suggesting that one to you, aren't I?" Lee grinned but dutifully turned and walked away to the far side of the pool to settle in a lounger in the shade. He didn't have to wait long for Simon to show up and flop down in the chair beside his.

"So how was the sport last night, Steadman?"

"Like shooting fish in a barrel. I do enjoy sorority sisters – they always like to do everything together." Lee made a mental note not to include any of his conversations with the dogs in his case notes. It would be a race as to which of the two women killed him first.

"But you didn't spend the whole night with both of them? Mrs. Delahanty didn't look nearly as pleased to see you as that Greenwich woman."

"No, Frannie's a bit of a lightweight with her liquor so we moved the party after she wanted to go to sleep. Vicky turned out to have much more stamina. I'll show you the bruises later."

"No thanks. So Francine can't hold her liquor? – that's good to know."

"Is it? Makes for a bit of a dull evening I thought. She was more fun the night before when she hadn't had so much champagne."

"Depends if you like 'em lively or not. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Remember when I talked about a big score last night? Any interest in making a little more spending money than just free meals and gifts you can pawn later?"

"Hell yeah, who wouldn't be?"

"Well, some of us here have a little sideline going that you might be interested in, and you get all the lovely perks and your hands stay clean." Simon looked sideways at him as if trying to gauge his interest.

Lee tried to look intrigued. "Stay clean? Is it illegal?" he asked in a tone of uncertainty.

"Oh we just have fun and get paid. And then look the other way while someone else picks up the goods. Everyone has fun and nobody gets hurt." Simon's smug expression was growing.

"I'm not following you"

Simon leaned in and asked quietly, "Okay, simple question – have you ever gotten a girl drunk to get what you want?"

"Well, yeah, what guy hasn't?"

"So, how about if I told you I could get you some little pills that help that process along? Little pills that make them oh-so-amenable and you don't have to work nearly so hard to get your fun?"

"You've definitely got my interest, but where's the money making in all of this?"

"Ah, that's the clean hands part. You see, if you can get them back to their room, you can have all the fun you want with them as long as you leave them passed out for the boss."

"The boss? Who's that?"

"You don't need to know who, you just need to know why. See, once you leave them in their room, you leave a signal like a towel over the balcony railing and the boss comes in to do a little light housecleaning – tidying up loose jewellery, that sort of thing, and we get a cut of the profit of whatever he sells on."

Lee allowed the surprise he felt to show on his face. Whatever he thought Simon was going to tell him, it wasn't about a gang of cat burglars stealing jewellery. "That's it? That's all you do?"

"Yes, it's a flawless system. The women probably never report any of the thefts because they don't want their husbands to find out what they've been up to and they can't remember where they might have lost stuff. The pills he supplies are great – the ladies stay with it enough to do anything you ask but not enough to bother you with talking or fighting back. Sometimes I wait for the boss to be done and go back later for more." The merest flicker of cruelty passed over Simon's face at the thought.

Lee felt the bile rising in his throat. Whatever this 'boss' had organized, he'd certainly recruited a sociopath to help him carry it out. He forced himself to continue looking interested as Simon went on to outline how they could carry out a similar plan that night. When he was done, Lee couldn't get away from him fast enough to call Billy.

.

SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK

"Do you think that really what's going on? Simple robbery with rape thrown in as a perk?" asked Francine when Lee found them on the beach later and filled them in, out of earshot of the hotel crowd.

"It could be, but Billy confirmed none of the women Elisa talked to mentioned losing anything valuable. I think whoever this boss is, he's not telling his accomplices what's really going on. If they think it's just simple jewellery theft, he can probably pay them less and he runs less of a risk that they'll demand better money. Blackmail and secrets pay a hell of a lot better than burglary. Most of them probably just think it's a victimless crime since the insurance companies would pay out, and they think the women are getting what they want anyway. Except Simon – that guy is psycho."

"Great – I've managed to pick out the most dangerous one to target me."

"I think the picking was mutual. This boss will have wanted his best worker on your case – the Defense Committee is the golden goose of secrets to sell. But you'll need to be hyper aware around him if he's chosen to target you." He took in the expression on her face and reached out to tap her on the knee. "Don't look so worried – now there's three of us watching every move you make."

Francine shot him an annoyed glance. "Stop trying to sound like you're my own personal cavalry, Lee. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Lee and Amanda both looked down to hide their smiles; everything in Francine's tone told them she was well on her way to channeling her nerves about this case into her own special brand of pissiness.

"Don't I know it," he answered cheerfully. "Okay, gang, who do we think the boss is? He has to be associated with the hotel, that's a given, right?"

"Yes," answered Francine. "It's got to be someone with the run of the place but we're not looking at bar or catering staff because they wouldn't have easy access to the women's rooms after the Simons of the world are done with them. How about housekeeping? Or bellboys? Maintenance staff? They'd have keys to every room and no one would notice if they were upstairs on the guest floors."

"But how would they know who to target?" Lee responded. "It needs to be someone who knows who these women are and how useful they could be."

"So it has to be more senior staff like the concierge or the night manager," agreed Francine.

"Halliwell," said Amanda, thoughtfully.

"Halliwell?" Lee couldn't place the name for a moment.

"The hotel manager. He'd have access to all of that, he's probably got background on everyone since it's such a VIP hotel, and he's got a terrible handshake." Amanda shuddered slightly as she finished her description.

Lee couldn't help laughing. "I've known lots of master criminals and never been able to arrest them because they had terrible handshakes."

Amanda shrugged. "It's like shaking hands with a snake, if a snake had hands. He's all smiles and compliments and loose grip, but he has dead eyes. He makes my skin crawl."

Lee met Francine's look and shrugged. "Sometimes it's literally touchy-feely," he grinned. "Isn't that why you got her down here?"

"Who says I got her down here? I just told Billy we needed help." Francine answered, defensively. "Anyway, we're getting off track here. Much as it pains me to admit it, you're right about Halliwell, Amanda, he talks differently to women than most men."

"How do most men talk to women?" asked Lee.

"Well, they don't look you in the eye for starters, but he's an overly close talker." she snorted. "And Halliwell sounds smooth but now that I think of it, he asks kind of intrusive questions."

"Exactly," agreed Amanda. "And he's only like that with the women, like he's always assessing your answers. He probably has all the background on female guests but doesn't decide who to target until they get here and he can see if his dog squad are going to get anywhere. I mean, not every woman who comes here is on the prowl or wouldn't notice a blackout incident."

"So you're both willing to bet on him just because he gives you the creeps?"

"Yes," answered Amanda and Francine in unison.

"Okay, so what the plan for tonight then?" he looked back at the two women who were staring at him in surprise. "What? Woman's intuition times two is not something I'm willing to dispute. If you think it's him, you're probably right. And besides, it doesn't matter who it is if we can come up with a plan to catch them red-handed."

Francine sighed. "All good traps begin with good bait, right? Let's start from there."

.


	7. Chapter 7

" _The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley" – Robert Burns_

 _._

She felt the wave of nausea hit her and knew immediately that they'd run into a problem with the plan. Francine didn't know whether Simon had gotten the drug into her drink or her food, but despite her best efforts, somewhere along the line he'd managed it, or maybe the waiter or kitchen staff were in on it. She had finally been convinced by Amanda to take one of Dr. McJohn's test pills as a safety precaution but it seemed like whatever had been slipped to her was stronger or maybe she'd taken it too soon and it was wearing off. She reached for her clutch, knowing that she had another pill hidden in it, but her fingers were already too numb to work the clasp. "I don't feel well," she managed to slur out. "Simon, I need one of my pills."

"I have a much better idea, Frannie. Why don't I take you upstairs and give you a neck rub? I've been told my fingers are much more effective than any nasty pill."

This was the plan – to get Simon to take her back upstairs, but none of them had thought she'd really be drugged, only acting it. She was supposed to quietly take him out once they were back in the room so that they could set the stage to catch the 'boss' – a simple job for her on any other day but now she was already starting to feel the numbness creeping into her limbs. She couldn't help the wave of panic at the thought of Lee and Amanda not knowing she was actually incapacitated and tried to get up, but only managed to bump the table hard enough to knock the wine bottle and glasses over. She felt Simon's hand at her elbow, pulling her to her feet and beginning to guide her across the room, talking cheerfully to her as they went although she could barely make sense of anything he said. "You've trained for this, Desmond" she told herself. "Keep calm, make a plan." She took deep breaths, trying to fight the effects of whatever he'd given her and did her best to slow him down by being as deadweight as possible. She looked up and realized he was walking her directly past the table where Lee and Amanda were sitting.

"Hullo you two," Simon greeted them cheerfully like a man without a care in the world. "Mrs. Delahanty seems to be getting a headache, so I'm just taking her back to her room for one of my world famous neck rubs."

She stared at Amanda, willing her to understand what was really going on. "Need…pill" she managed to get out, or thought she did, before dropping her purse at Amanda's feet. She wasn't even sure she'd been speaking clearly.

"Now darling, I told you my neck rubs are better than any pill any day, said Simon, oblivious to the messages she was passing on. "Now let's get you upstairs."

She looked back and to her relief Amanda was stooping down to pick up her purse and looking after her with a worried expression.

.

.

"Lee, she's really in trouble – I don't think that's an act."

"Amanda, you know there's nobody better at Francine at these covers – are you sure you're not just reading your own nerves into this?

"No, I don't because her second pill is still in here. I'm sure she was trying to say she needed a pill and there's still one in here. If she was acting, she would have been more subtle and she certainly wouldn't have tried to get all the attention that almost knocking her table over attracted. I think she needs help fast." She began to get up until Lee grabbed her arm and kept her in place.

"We can't just go charging after her – we have to actually catch them doing something or the whole mission goes down the toilet. You're really sure she's not acting? I thought McJohn's pills were supposed to counteract anything he gave her?"

"He said they were still in the testing stage – they might not be effective enough or maybe Simon's overdosed her. We have to go after them."

"Okay, but we need to not look like we're following them. Can you see Adam?"

"He's in the lobby keeping an eye on Halliwell."

"Alright, let's head out slowly and make sure he sees us."

They got to their feet and moved unhurriedly to the door, arms around each other, trying to look like lovers on their way back to their room. As they entered the lobby, Amanda made a show of tripping and losing her shoe, giving Lee a chance to make eye contact with the young agent who was already on alert having seen Francine being half-carried past him moments before. Lee jerked his head upwards and Adam nodded in acknowledgement. He stood up and headed for the stairs, knowing that he could run up the two flights more quickly than waiting for the elevator. Lee watched as the elevator door across the lobby closed on Simon and Francine. Amanda was right - she was way too pale and listless. He swore under his breath as they moved across the lobby to get the next elevator. He'd promised her it would never get this far and yet here they were.

"Calm down. We're not that far behind and Adam's already on his way." Amanda knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Are you talking to me or yourself?"

"Yes."

They stared at the elevator door in silence, willing it to come quickly. As they stepped in, Lee saw Halliwell watching them speculatively from behind the front desk. He reached past Amanda's outstretched hand and jabbed the button for the fourth floor.

"Lee, that's my floor, Francine's on two."

"Halliwell's watching us. We need to go up and then come back down."

"Thank God Adam's probably already up there."

Francine could feel herself being moved down the hallway to her room. No matter how much she willed herself to fight him, she couldn't make her limbs respond with any strength. She never saw Adam stick his head out of the stairwell after they passed him and couldn't help the small sob of fear as Simon stopped at her door.

"Now where's your key, my lovely?" he muttered before realizing she didn't have her purse anymore. "Shit! Hang on." He pushed her up against the door frame and braced her there with his shoulder while he reached down his leg and lifted his pant leg to reveal the knife strapped there. Pulling out the six-inch blade, he used it to jimmy the door and then pushed her inside. "Oh dear, Mrs. Delahanty, there's definitely going to be an extra charge on your bill when management sees that damage." He slid the deadbolt closed and chained the door as Francine watched with despair.

She had fallen in the entrance to her room where he'd shoved her and tried to brace herself against the wall to prevent him from moving her but he just lifted her easily and began to drag her towards the bed, talking to her in a cajoling tone, "Now don't worry dearie, you won't remember a thing about this tomorrow."

Lee and Amanda had arrived back via the stairs just as Francine's door had slammed shut. Amanda searched through Francine's purse looking for the room key and passed it to Lee. He was leaning with ear up against the door, listening for any signs of struggle. If Francine wasn't really drugged, she would have been fighting him by now and the silence was unnerving. Slipping the key into the lock as quietly as he could, he gently turned it but realized immediately that Simon had slipped the security bolt rendering the key useless.

Amanda had joined Adam as he arrived at his door and followed him quickly into his room. She realized that there was a set of double connecting doors between the two rooms; Adam already had his open and was now leaning on the closed one from Francine's room, also trying to hear what was going on next door. "Can't you just go in?" she asked desperately.

"Miss Desmond left it ajar when she left but he banged it shut dragging her in and there's no handle on this side. I thought she'd be fighting him more by now." he whispered back. Lee had now joined them and was running his hands through his hair, thinking furiously.

"He's managed to drug her and we can't count on any help from her. Okay, I'm going to go try and get from your balcony to hers. He won't be expecting anyone to come from there. Wait until you hear me in there and then hit this door with everything you have."

"Be careful Lee, that's must be at least a thirty foot drop."

"I'll aim to land in the pool" he tried to joke as he headed out and swung his legs out over the balcony and began to edge his way into position to jump to the next one over. Amanda held her breath as he made the leap and didn't release it until she saw him disappear over the railing to Francine's balcony, then ran back to the connecting door to wait with Adam.

"Thank god for good old-fashioned bad security" Lee thought to himself after he tested the sliding door and realized it was locked. Bracing his hands against the frame, he lifted the door out of its runners and shoved it open. Launching himself across the room at Simon, he knocked him from his position kneeling over Francine and sent him flying. As the Englishman scrambled to his feet, swearing, Lee continued to move towards him, realizing too late that Simon had a knife in his hand and only narrowly managing to avoid its lethal sweep as Simon came upright.

"You sonofabitch!" snarled Simon in a blood rage. "This one's mine!"

"This one isn't anybody's, least of all yours," answered Lee, ducking and diving as Simon came at him in a frenzy. He kept talking, hoping to distract Simon long enough for Adam to break down the connecting door. "You have no idea what you're in the middle of, pal. I'm a federal agent and you're at the centre of a very big problem right now. Put down the knife and this might go a lot better for you at your trial."

"Veronique doesn't have federal agents. Hell, they barely have a police force!" gasped Simon, reeling back from one of Lee's punches.

"I'm an American agent" panted Lee, all too aware that Simon had managed to circle around back into the room and that their fight was getting dangerously close to Francine again. She was doing her best to crawl out of their way but not quickly enough.

"Then you don't have any jurisdiction here," panted Simon smugly. He reached over to grab Francine by the hair and pulled her upright against him like a shield, just as Adam finally broke down the connecting door and fell into the room.

"You're right" said Lee stopping dead and putting out a hand to stop Adam from moving any further into the room. "But that also means I don't have nasty legal rules I have to follow." In the moment that Simon paused to think about what he meant, Lee pulled his handgun from its holster and trained it on him.

Simon pulled Francine closer, and placed his knife against her neck, making it impossible for Lee to get a clean shot at him. "Really mate? Seems like even you might quibble at cold-blooded murder though, wouldn't you?"

For Lee, it seemed like time stood still and all he could hear was his own heartbeat as once again he found himself with his gun trained on one of his closest friends. For a split second, he shifted his gaze from Simon's wild-eyed stare to Francine. She blinked slowly at him and glanced sideways and down. Lee took a deep breath, looked her in the eye and, praying she hadn't underestimated what she was capable of in her current state, asked her, "Are you sure?"

Simon assumed he was answering him and began to respond but as he did so, Francine twisted her head, letting the knife cut into her skin, and bit Simon on the hand holding the knife, then, as he yanked it out of reach cursing, she dropped ungracefully to the floor. Lee leapt across the intervening space to slam his fist into Simon's face, hearing the crunch of cartilage with a vicious satisfaction, followed by the snap of breaking cheekbone as he continued to pummel him.

"Lee! Enough!" As usual it was Amanda who managed to get through the veil of rage and made him stop. He looked down at the unconscious mess he was still clutching by the shirtfront and then looked over to see Francine dragging herself up to lean against the side of the bed. She drew in a deep breath and smiled tremulously at him before managing to slur out "Just…one...more…from...me, okay?"

With a bark of laughter, Lee dropped Simon and leaned down to pick her up and help her to sit on the bed. "That's our girl," he grinned at her.

"Not…anybody's…girl," she growled at him even as she leaned into him for support.

"No, but that is definitely our Francine," said Amanda, stepping forward to sit beside her and take her weight against her. "Lee, you need to get him out of here before the boss shows up. We're going to need a Plan B though – she's in no shape to deal with anything else tonight and I need to get something on this cut on her neck."

Lee got back up from his spot beside Francine and grabbed Simon under the arms and began to drag him towards the connecting door to Adam's room. "Adam, get the bolt and chain undone – he'll need to be able to get in here. Amanda, how bad is that knife wound? Do we need to get a doctor up here?" He dropped Simon on Adam's bathroom floor and dug handcuffs out of his pocket to chain him to the pipe under the sink. Amanda appeared a few steps behind him and grabbed a washcloth and ran it under the tap.

"The cut's just a scratch I think but it's bleeding a lot because of the angle." Adam had carried Francine through to the connecting room and she was now sitting in an armchair, head tilted back, eyes closed with exhaustion. Amanda crouched beside her, and began pressing the washcloth against the cut, trying to assess the damage, while talking to her in soothing tones. "Francine, I don't want to give you any of those pills to help you fight this because I'm afraid any adrenaline at this point will make it bleed more and I want you to sit upright for a bit until the bleeding slows. But it really is just a scratch and I'm sure it won't leave a scar, okay?"

She knew Francine was already starting to fight the effects of the drugs when she opened her eyes, and muttered "Thank god it's turtleneck season" before lapsing back into silence. Amanda pulled the cover off the bed and wrapped her in it to try and prevent shock before turning to look at Lee expectantly.

Lee looked around the room, thinking rapidly and let his eyes rest on Adam for a moment before a plan formed in his mind. He pulled off his jacket and handed it to the younger agent. "Put this on over what you're wearing. The double layering will make you look bulkier like Simon. We have to assume his boss is keeping watch, so you're going to go out the other door and try to look as much like possible like our psycho here. You've got the same hair colour and about the same height so you might be able to pass for him if you keep your head down and move quickly. Just head for the stairwell and stay there, okay?"

The younger agent nodded and began pulling on Lee's tux over his own. It didn't make him a lot bulkier but it might pass long enough for whatever Lee had planned.

"Amanda, get back into Francine's room and wrap yourself up in the covers. You and Francine are both in white, so if you can do something to cover your hair, he might not know it's the wrong woman until he's far enough into the room. I'll get that door back on its frame or he'll definitely know something's wrong."

Amanda nodded and moved quickly into the other room. She began pulling the covers on the bed into a state of disarray while Lee reset the balcony door and stepped back into Adam's room, pausing to stuff his pocket square in the lock so the connecting door couldn't close and lock again. Amanda took a deep breath and lay face down on Francine's bed, wrapping herself partially in the light blankets and hanging her head over the far side so that only her body was really visible.

"Everybody ready?" she heard Adam whisper from the doorway.

"Go!" Lee muttered from behind the door.

They heard the door open and then unexpectedly they heard Adam start to shout something before it was cut off by the horrible whistling snick of a gun with a silencer firing and the thud of Adam falling back into the room, and landing unmoving in the narrow entranceway to the room. Not needing the warning yell from Lee, Amanda was already scrambling off the bed and falling to the floor to relative safety as Lee burst back into the room. She turned her head and realized she could see the reflection of the two men in the balcony door. It was indeed Halliwell standing over Adam's body – he now had his gun pointed at Lee, who had his own weapon out and trained on him in an impasse. Amanda saw something in her peripheral vision and realized Simon's knife had fallen under the bed, just barely within her reach. She stretched out her fingers and let them close around the handle and drew it in close to her body.

"Well, Mr. Steadman, I should have known you'd be the one to give me trouble. So handsome, so charming – I told Simon I didn't like the cut of your jib but he was so sure of himself." He stepped casually over Adam and into the room as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Right now the only thing he's sure about is that he needs a hospital," snapped Lee, edging into the room to get between Halliwell and Amanda.

"Couldn't happen to a nicer chap. It's always disappointing when all the work you put into training a monkey turns out to be for nought."

"Maybe you shouldn't have picked such a psychotic monkey". Lee chanced a glance down at Adam and was relieved to see the shallow rise and fall of his chest that said he was still alive. He didn't think he could have even survived a gunshot at such close quarters but as he watched, he realized with shock that Adam's hand was moving slowly towards Halliwell's ankle. He looked back up at the manager, trying to keep him talking. "This must have been quite the little money maker for you – who were you selling your information to?"

"My word, you really have been a busy boy haven't you? You really have been doing your homework, I see, if you've already figured out it's not simply theft. Well, if you're so smart, can't you figure it all out on your own? You don't need me making some long-winded confession like a movie villain, surely?"

Lee stared at him thoughtfully for a moment, putting the pieces together. "The Cubans. They're close enough to have easy access on and off the island and they can sell anything you have onto the Soviets." Adam's hand was now almost within reach of the gunman.

"Oh well done. I see there's brains behind that pretty face." As he spoke, Adam's hand shot out and grabbed at his ankle. Halliwell stumbled with a shout of rage and fired his gun wildly at Lee. Lee dove sideways before firing back just barely missing as the manager jerked back out of the room and disappeared in the direction of the stairs. Leaping over Adam's body, Lee leaned out into the hallway, jerking his head back as Halliwell fired again. When he heard running footsteps again, he chanced another look and then set off in pursuit. Halliwell was pulling over the tables that lined the hallway at regular intervals in an effort to slow him down. As he started to catch up, the manager suddenly stopped and yanked a fire extinguisher off the wall and swung it wildly, letting it loose as Lee approached. Lee ducked but he was close enough that it caught him on the side of his head, just enough to temporarily drop him to his knees. As he scrambled to get upright again, he looked up to see his adversary pausing to lift his gun towards him. Before he could even react, there was a whistling sound past his head and a knife buried itself in Halliwell's shoulder. He fell back with a scream of pain, giving Lee enough time to launch himself up at him, knocking him backwards and from there, it only took one well-placed punch to knock him out.

Lee knelt beside him gasping for breath for a moment before hauling himself to his feet to turn and look back down the hall to see where the knife had come from. Amanda was standing in the middle of the hall, looking shocked and swaying.

"Amanda? Where the hell did you learn to do THAT?" He couldn't believe it had been her but there was no one else in sight as he strode back towards her and grabbed her arms.

She looked up at him and started to laugh, an edge of hysteria to it. "We had a lot of evening downtime at Station One and Leatherneck started teaching me knife tricks to pass the time. I never thought it would actually work – I just thought it would distract him."

Lee looked back over his shoulder in disbelief, then looked back at her with a grin. "I'll have to tell Billy you need extra credit."

A groan from the open doorway had her whirling back towards Francine's room. "Oh my gosh, Adam! Are you okay?" She knelt beside the young agent, trying to help him roll onto his back.

Lee dropped to his knees as well, scrambling to undo the jacket buttons, searching for the gunshot wound he knew was there but suddenly realizing that what he was feeling was the familiar bulk of a bulletproof vest. "What the hell? Kid, I thought you were dead!"

Adam groaned as he continued trying to drag himself upright. "New rule from Mr. Melrose and Beaman. Rookies have to wear vests on all jobs during our probation period because we're too dumb not to get shot." He managed a gasping laugh. "I guess they were right."

Lee stared at him, nonplussed, then looked up at a grinning Amanda. "So why aren't you wearing one?"

"Because my spaghetti strap version for evening wear is on back order," she answered, rolling her eyes at him.

"Still sounds like a good idea to me," muttered Lee.

"I'm kind of appreciating it myself," gasped Adam even as he continued to wince with pain. "But do you think you could get me out of it now? I can't breathe too good."

"Probably broken ribs and taking off the vest will make it worse. We'll get you more comfortable in a minute but for now, just lay still while I go make sure Halliwell's secure. Amanda, you know the codes. Get the front desk to call the police and then call Billy and let him know what's going on."

"Yessir!" she snapped off a salute with a smile and eased herself upright to go make the calls. Lee watched her go and then stopped only long enough to grab a set of handcuffs from Francine's hand luggage before stepping back into the hallway. He walked up to Halliwell and stood staring down at him, knife still embedded in his shoulder. He glanced back down the hall to the spot where Amanda had been standing moments before and then back down at the unconscious manager and began to laugh. As he snapped the cuffs on as a precaution, he muttered to himself, "I need to remember to get the biggest bottle of rum at the duty-free for Leatherneck. And to never _ever_ get into a fight with her in the kitchen once we're married."

He was still chuckling when the hotel security finally burst out of the elevator.


	8. Chapter 8

" _I call everyone 'Darling' because I can't remember their names – Zsa Zsa Gabor_

 _._

They arrived back in the room several hours later, Amanda walking down the hall with her shoes dangling from her hands and an exhausted expression on her face. Tonight they truly had left Francine tucked up in bed, mostly recovered from the drugs and with reassurances from the doctor summoned from the medical clinic that she would be fine after a good night's sleep. Francine had waited for Lee to go check on Adam before grabbing Amanda's hand. "Lee told me what you did – I wish I could have seen it. But, in case whatever Simon gave me means I don't remember anything tomorrow, I want to say I'm really glad you were here. I wasn't sure anyone would realize I was in trouble."

Amanda had grinned and squeezed her hand back. "Francine, you are a fabulous actress but you would never willingly have spilled red wine all over that Valentino dress if you hadn't been in trouble."

Francine had managed to laugh, "That was the clincher? Oh God, Lee's right – it's good to have friends who really understand you. And by the way, whether or not I remember any of this tomorrow, you know I will deny ever saying that."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Life would be so dull if I only had Russian agents to squabble with."

Adam had not fared quite so well; the vest had taken the brunt of the gunshot blast but he still had several cracked ribs and a bruise that covered most of his right side. He had been bandaged to within an inch of his life and Amanda had made the hotel staff bring several extra pillows so he could sleep slightly inclined to help with the breathing. He'd been embarrassed by Amanda's mothering until Lee had given him a sympathetic look and told him to get used to it. "Just be thankful she isn't insisting on having a roll-away cot brought in here so she can keep an eye on you."

Adam had stared at him uncertainly. "She wouldn't. Would she?"

"Never underestimate the code of the Bedside Bluebell. But I'll do my best to save you from her." He winked at him as Amanda entered the room from next door. "You did good tonight Adam. Now get some sleep and we'll get you back on the jet to DC tomorrow."

"No chance of a long recovery on the beach?" The younger agent grinned sleepily at him, the pain killers already taking effect.

"I'll see what we can do – I could do with at least one more day of sun and sand myself."

Now as they approached the room, both of them were stumbling as the adrenaline of the night's adventure finally began to wear off.

"Another day, another tux to replace. How many is that this year?"

"Three, I think but thank goodness, this is the only one with a bullet hole in it. Oh my gosh, it seems like everything hurts I'm so tired," yawned Amanda, cuddled against him.

"Yeah, that bed is calling for sure."

"It is, but not before I have a long hot bath."

"That sounds like fun"

She smiled tiredly at him. "Any other night, Lee, but right now I just want to soak and then sleep."

He made a mock disappointed face before admitting "I'm not sure I'll even be awake by the time you're done to be honest."

He opened the door and checked inside from force of habit before stepping aside to let her in. He stepped into the bathroom and began running water into the tub for her before walking back into the room to find Amanda standing, swaying tiredly exactly where he'd left her. He unzipped her dress for her, dropping light kisses on her shoulders as he did so. "Are you sure you want that bath, darling? You seem like you could use bed more."

"No, if I go to bed with these aches, they'll be worse when I wake up. I won't be long."

She walked into the bathroom and shortly after, Lee heard the water shut off and the splash as Amanda slipped into the tub. He felt the familiar surge of arousal as he imagined her in the water, but he had to admit Amanda was right – they were both too tired for any lovemaking tonight. He stripped off his clothes and lay back on the bed to wait for her.

He must have drifted off into a light sleep when he suddenly became aware of the sound of the tub draining. He lay on the bed, listening to the now familiar sounds of her night time routine, brushing teeth, brushing hair, taking off makeup. He could hear her talking to herself but couldn't make out the words. When he heard the toilet flush, suggesting she was done, he pushed himself to his feet to go trade places with her. She appeared in the dim light of the room, already in pyjamas and clambered onto the bed with a tired sigh.

Lee quickly went through the motions of brushing teeth and washing face before stepping over to use the toilet. As he reached for the flush, he glanced down and realized the bath towel Amanda has been using was lying on the floor beside the tub. "Man, she really must be tired if she's not even hanging up towels," he thought to himself, reaching down to pick it up. As he went to hang it over the curtain rail, his heart began to pound.

"Amanda, did you get hurt tonight?" he called out to her.

She sounded exhausted when she answered from the other room. "No, why?"

"Are you sure? There's blood on the towel you just used."

"Oh that. No, I'm not hurt."

He came out of the bathroom, concern on his face which increased when he saw how pale she was, curled up on the bed and looking like either she'd been crying or was about to.

"Stop looking so worried. Women bleed, Lee."

Sudden comprehension dawned on his face "Oh."

He crossed over and climbed onto the bed, drawing her against him. "Are you feeling alright, darling? Should you have been working tonight?"

"Oh for heaven's sake, it's just my period. Women work though them their whole lives. Do you think our lives grind to a halt every month?"

She was really overreacting, but he had enough sense of self-preservation not to say so. "No, but I've known you for three years and I've never seen it hit you like this before."

She sighed and made herself more comfortable against his chest. "It's not usually like this. Being on the pill means it doesn't usually bother me but all the antibiotics and stuff I had to take after Birol threw my whole system out of whack."

"I can tell."

"It's just making me crazy tired."

"You still should have told me you weren't feeling well." He held up a hand at her expression of annoyance. "Not because I don't think you're capable but because I worry about you. You just seem like you shouldn't be exerting yourself."

"Well, it didn't start until tonight and I pretty much jumped at the chance to come when I found out you weren't even in DC when I got back. We don't get enough time alone as it is and I was hoping to spend some time with you to talk but that's taken care of now anyway."

"You've lost me."

"I wanted to have some time where we were really alone once this was done because I was late."

"Late for what?" The words were barely out of his mouth before he realized what she'd meant. "Oh." He said with sudden understanding. "Oh." This time with the understanding of why she was upset. "How late?"

"Just over a week. Not a lot, just enough to make me think that maybe… I didn't even realize until I was most of the way through Station One when I realized I hadn't used any of the supplies I'd brought and then it seemed like such great timing that I was being sent home early and then when I got there, I couldn't get hold of you and... well anyway, it's started now."

He could hear the note in her voice and hugged her closer. "I'm sorry I wasn't home darling."

"Please don't call me that. Not now." She was definitely on the edge of tears now but he wasn't certain what he'd said that brought it on or the apparently sudden change in topic for that matter.

"Don't call you what?"

"Darling – don't call me that."

"Amanda, I call you darling all the time – why is it bothering you now?"

"Because you don't call me that _all the time._ You only call me that when we're playing a cover and you're being all Scarecrow-y."

He stopped, struck by that and realized she was right. He thought back to the first night they'd made love and how she'd jokingly called him Scarecrow. It had set his teeth on edge and here he was doing the same thing. "You're right, I do. I'll try to call you something less annoying." He dropped a kiss on her cheek. "Like sugar, or toots, or baby." He'd been trying to make her laugh but it was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

Luckily for him, Amanda's sense of the ridiculous kicked in even before he could wince. Her laughter hiccupped out of her, unstoppable, "I didn't think you could make it worse, but Mandy-baby is definitely not where you want to go either."

"I really need to learn to engage brain before mouth some days. I'm so sorry, my love."

She sighed and rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. "I couldn't figure out how to tell you – I was stuck finishing training and I couldn't just call you and tell you on the phone. And when I got here, I lost my nerve that it would distract you too much and I wasn't even sure yet. So I just kept putting it off. It was like Philip all over again, wondering what I was going to do about it."

Lee felt his heart drop as the last sentence trailed off. "Is that why you married Joe?"

"No, of course not. Philip was conceived after we got married, he just came much sooner than we'd planned. It was just that I can remember dreading telling Joe – I knew he'd be happy, but he was only barely starting law school and we were already living like poor students."

"So you were dreading telling me?" he asked quietly.

"Not exactly," she started and then realized what he was asking. She scrambled to roll over so she was facing him again and reached out to lay a hand on his cheek. "No! No, of course not. I didn't mean it to sound like that. It's just that it wasn't something we'd discussed yet and the timing would have been difficult to explain. We would have had to figure out how to move up our wedding and how to tell people."

He was surprised at how relieved he felt at her explanation, that it was only the timing that would have been a problem not the pregnancy then realized he should have known better. "You're not wrong there. It would have been a race to see whether your mother or Billy could get the shotgun out quicker." He studied her face as she gazed at him from across the pillow. "You gave this a lot of thought. Are you sure it was only a week?"

"Yes, really just a week and a bit. I'm not miscarrying, it's just a period, honestly."

"You're sure? It wasn't anything we did tonight or, uh, last night that caused it?"

Amanda smiled at his attempts to dance around the subject. "No sweetheart, it wasn't. All I did tonight was run around a bit." She couldn't help laughing. "And as for last night, good lord, if that caused miscarriages, I never would have had either of the boys because I get incredibly horny when I'm pregnant."

"Really? Wow, I thought I knew a lot about women, but you are a constant education to me."

"You do know a lot, you've just had a specialty subject up until now. And it's one I've had every reason to appreciate."

He could tell from the teasing that some of Amanda's tension had lessened but knew he needed to know more.

"But you're still upset about it, even if you thought it would have been bad timing." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah, a little. It's the same every time you get pregnant – I mean when you really are pregnant – it's sort of a roller coaster of terror and joy. In the same breath you can be deliriously happy and still be thinking about all the obstacles it's about to throw in your path. I just finished every test Beaman threw at me and then it looked like it was all for nothing but now, when it turns out to be nothing, I feel a bit like something wonderful just got snatched out of reach. Am I making any sense?"

"Yes, except for me everything you just described happened in the three second interval from when you said 'late' to when I realized you meant past tense."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Maybe I shouldn't have told you. I could have left you in blissful ignorance."

"Of course you should have told me. We need to talk about it."

She looked at him questioningly so he went on.

"You're right, we haven't talked about it, but now it's out there for discussion. And if we'd had this discussion before, I might not have known what I wanted, but that feeling you talked about, about having something wonderful snatched away – I get that. Nothing like being told you can't have something for clarifying what you want."

Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "You want a baby?"

"You know, back when I barely knew you yet, I once told Billy you had motherhood carved in your bones. It's such an intrinsic part of you, how could I not want a child with you?"

"But what if we can't?"

He couldn't help starting to laugh. "Amanda, my love, you are going to make me crazy. If we can't, I share Jamie and Philip with you. You already have a perfect family for me to love which is more than I ever thought I'd have in my life. And if we can, it's just more perfect."

"But what about being your partner? I can't go in the field if I'm pregnant or if I have a baby at home."

"You are just looking for trouble now, aren't you?" He pulled her in for a long tender kiss. "You can still do field work that isn't dangerous, you know the kind – doorstep interviews, stuff like that – and you can still be in the office running backup with research and so on. It's always been your intuition and your ability to relate to people I've relied on, and you can do that in relative safety if we need you to."

Amanda grinned up at him, mischievously. "So you've just been dragging me into dangerous situations for three years for the fun of it?"

Lee smiled back at her. "No, I just liked knowing you were watching my tail." He reached over to swat her on the behind. "And besides, _you_ dragged _me_ into half of them AND I always tell you to stay in the car. Maybe if you have a reason to stay put, you'll stay put!"

She caught her breath at the mental image he'd conjured up. "I'd like that reason."

"And either way, we'll have a good time trying." He looked down her, suddenly serious. "I love you more than anything, Amanda King. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't but keep reminding me anyway." Her eyes were drooping shut, as emotional and physical exhaustion finally took its toll.

"I can do that, my Amanda." He gently rolled her until she was spooned against him. As she snuggled in closer, sighing as she drifted off, he wrapped his arm around her waist and followed her into sleep, smiling to himself as he pictured their future together.

*The End*


End file.
